


I've made all my mistakes on film.

by werepope (quiteparadise)



Series: 2014 Advent Calendar for a Filthy-Minded Athiest [6]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Liam is a singer, M/M, Zayn is an actor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-07
Updated: 2014-12-07
Packaged: 2018-02-28 11:26:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2730713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quiteparadise/pseuds/werepope
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zayn is an actor.  He was a young actor once.  He made some poor decisions.  Liam happens to catch one on cable.</p><p> </p><p>Advent calendar challenge: Christmas in summer</p>
            </blockquote>





	I've made all my mistakes on film.

Liam is three stops into the US festival circuit. Somewhere in the blocky, unidentifiable western states. Midwestern? His US geography is not great. Everything is flat, that's what he knows for sure. Everything is flat and he was bored shitless on the ten/fifteen/million hour drive here. He can't face another hour on the bus. So he takes the opportunity of an overnight stay to get a hotel and crash out.

He spends an hour and a half in the fitness room. He calls in pizza to counteract the calorie burn. He takes a shower. The boredom creeps in regardless, through the cracks in the windows or the gap under the door.

He read a book once about the American dustbowl. Well, alright, a book set in the American dustbowl. About a family in this part of the country who had to turn their plates and glasses upside down, because in the time between setting the table and serving the food, a layer of grit would lay in them. That's what the boredom is like.

He flips through the few dozen cable channels as he eats his pizza, getting the buttons of the remote shiny with grease. He isn't even seeing what's on the screen, just going through the motions, eyes unfocused. He has been made so mindless by the boredom that he almost doesn't recognize Zayn on channel thirty seven, has to turn back and squint, wake himself up.

On second viewing, it's sort of amazing he managed to recognize Zayn at all. The boy on the screen is– Well, he's a boy. He looks about seventeen. Eighteen at the outside. He hadn't even had all the Bradford trained out of his accent yet. He is nothing at all like the film and television star who Liam knows and... cares about.

(They haven't said the word yet.)

It's a massively out of season TV movie or miniseries about a teacher in a state school who wins the hearts of the students in time to form a choir to go caroling? The caroling might be secondary. He thinks that's the gist of it. The story seems pretty well progressed by the time he gets to it, was probably fairly slapdash to begin with, and he tends to lose the plot as soon as Zayn's on screen.

He's adorable.

Liam's not sure if he wants to hug the stuffing out of this teenaged version of his boyfriend or fuck him raw. Some less extreme version of the two, maybe. A slow fuck with lots of cuddling after. He'd take that.

This younger Zayn has none of his polish but quite a bit of charm to make up for it. He has sweetly rounded cheeks instead of sharp as glass cheekbones. The line of his jaw is softer. He looks darker, too, more immediately like his father. That one sort of hurts, if Liam lets himself think about it.

He doesn't know what time zone he's in or how it compares to the time in LA, in Vancouver, wherever Zayn is. But he's a hell of a lot closer than most of the year, when Liam's in London. He takes the risk and dial's Zayn's mobile during a commercial break.

Zayn picks up on the fifth ring sounding groggy and confused. That doesn't mean much, honestly. Zayn can take a twelve minute nap during a fifteen minute car ride. It comes from working on sets, apparently. All the hurry up and wait.

"Babe?" he answers, and it's probably Liam's imagination but he thinks he can hear more than the usual amount of his native accent in his voice. A flattening of the consonants, a clipping of the vowels. Liam adores it.

"When did you do a Christmas movie?"

There's a long moment of silence as Zayn's sleepy brain tries to make sense of that. "What?"

"One of your films is on. When did you do a Christmas movie? You look twelve."

Zayn gives a breath of a laugh and there's the unmistakable sound of movement while Zayn switches the phone to his other ear. "It's July. Where are you that they're playing Christmas movies?"

Liam knows this one. There have been three adverts so far informing him that he's watching Christmas in July, only on – "The Hallmark channel," he says. "They really like Christmas. You're missing the point."

"Which is what?"

"You did a Christmas film! I'm stunned by how adorable you are, babe."

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" Zayn asks. He sounds distinctly more awake now.

Liam takes the television off mute when the commercials end, but he does turn the volume almost all the way down. "I've spent the past twenty minutes thinking about all the filthy things I want to do to this nubile young you. I'm not sure if that's a compliment, exactly, but it's got to be flattering on some level."

"Nubile?" Zayn laughs. "Can something be creepy and flattering at the same time?"

"So long as it's more flattering than creepy."

"I'll get back to you on that one," Zayn offers.

On the screen, Zayn's character is being recruited to join the choir by the troubled kid with the heart of gold. Liam can't believe Zayn didn't get the bigger of the two parts. He's never laid eyes on the other guy before.

It occurs to Liam only now that Zayn's character is joining a choir. "Are you going to sing?" he asks, sitting up. He thumbs the volume up a bit higher.

"What?"

"In the film. Did you sing in this film?"

Zayn groans. "Oh please, Liam, turn it off. That thing was was a piece of shit even back then. It can't have aged well."

He's committed now, though. There's probably only another fifteen minutes left. And Zayn's lack of answer makes him think that yes, he did in fact sing in this film. As well he should have. He has a lovely voice. It's almost a shame he got into acting, although he could still cross over. Jared Leto did it. He's even been rather successful at it, if you don't count the issue of the thirty million dollars.

"Come on. What other opportunity am I going to get to see you at seventeen?" he asks.

There's the sound of a barely muffled sigh on the other end of the line. "I'll let you see baby pictures if you promise to turn it off right now."

"How do I know you'll follow through?"

"You could meet my mum," Zayn says. "She wouldn't let you leave without seeing at least one album." Liam can tell from the sound of his voice that he's edging out of saying it even as he speaks, like he's regretting the words before they leave his mouth but that they're too far along to stop.

It's Liam's turn now for the long pause, wherein he stares at the television, unseeing once again. When Zayn takes a breath to speak, Liam all but falls over himself to get there first.

"I don't know if that's a good idea," he says.

"Oh. Okay. Well–"

"I called mostly to let you know I was going to have a wank while watching seventeen-year-old you. My getting turned on by your year eight photo might not be the best impression to leave your mum with."

"That one was definitely more creepy than flattering," Zayn says.

"Good to know."

**Author's Note:**

> These characters are part of a much larger AU that will probably never be written. Future stories featuring them will include this note:
> 
> AU: "Who am I to blow against the wind?"


End file.
